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Rio Olympic Typeface

By Stephanie Rebick | Posted on October 26th, 2012

Even though it seems like just yesterday we were enthralled by the London Olympics, plans are moving ahead quite quickly for the next host city of the Summer Games, Rio de Janeiro in 2016. While I definitely enjoy watching the sporting events, I’m also interested in the branding and design that becomes such a huge part of the Games themselves. I can only imagine the immense number of individuals who participate in the decision making process around typeface, logos and mascots — despite the exposure, it must be a designer’s worst nightmare to participate in one of these projects. While there have been some absolutely incredible Olympic graphic design — Georges Huel and Pierre-Yves Pelletier’s efforts for Montreal ’76 immediately comes to mind — the last two Games in Vancouver and London had extremely bizarre and at times schizophrenic graphic solutions. Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised with Rio’s typeface design by Dalton Maag that was made public last week. I love the shape of this font and how seems both contemporary and traditional at the same time. It’s completely unique and will serve Rio well. The letters appear fresh, fun and informal — exactly what you want to project for the Olympics.